Today for Song of the Soul, Peter Phippen & Ivar Lunde, Jr., are sharing music & stories they've created together.
There was an article by Bill Durland in the May/June 2023 issue of Western Friend called Martyrs for Conscience's Sake (and there is also a podcast of a visit with Bill) which provides a very short history of those martyred as they “spoke truth to power”.
Annette Wasilik's love affair with the guitar & song began in her mid-teens, but has only come into the fullest sunshine & blossom over the past 10 years, releasing two full albums. She is all about healing, including the balm to the heart & soul that come through her voice, lyrics, & guitar, but she also is a healer through her energy & massage work. Annette works her musical magic from her base in Takoma Park, MD.
Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Catholic, Native American, Earth-Based Spirituality, Eastern, Meditation
All featured music is written & performed by Annette Wasilik:
Chincoteague - from Love & Fire 2020
Highway - from Love & Fire 2020
Yata has been a decades-long feature of the music scene in the Chippewa Valley region of Wisconsin, and an inveterate collaborator with so very many musicians of the area, enhancing his own songwriting, guitar, and wonderful singing skills with all kinds of instruments and harmonies. You might well call Yata a folk-music-plus performer, because he can do it all, including the more offbeat jazz, blues, and other styles. Yata is a people enhancer, but he's also deeply linked to the land and the water and the other creatures of this Earth.
Caleb Horne grew up steeped in music, playing the piano, alto saxophone, guitar, mandolin, and more. Along the way he got severely bitten by the bluegrass bug. He has played solo and in numerous configurations, including as part of the Original Midwest Grass Band, Evergreen Grass Band, Thistledown, JFT Party Band, and The Woodland Spring.
I interviewed Geoffrey Gates back in 2017 about some of the notable experiences of his life, including his service with the International Voluntary Service in the war zone of Vietnam in 1971, and his service with the Peace Corps after his retirement from about 40 years as a doctor.
The religious soup we grow up in affects all of us. Sometimes the influences are helpful and favorable, but especially for those off the mainstream, they can be very painful and alienating. Even passages from holy books, initially innocent or positive, can by so badly misconstrued as to become life-threatening. K. Renato Lings tackles the texts of the Bible that have been particularly hurtful to LGBTQ folks, using serious scholarship and analysis to help repair connections and compassion in our world. His newest book is Holy Censorship or Mistranslation?
